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“You had me fucking arrested?” Kim shouted.
I grinned. “You broke the law. Of course you were going to get arrested.”
Her eyes flickered back and forth between Mitchell and me. “You did this on purpose.”
“No, you did this. You gave up any right you had to Chloe. I got a restraining order against your ass, and you ignored it.”
“You illegally got it.”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Think whatever you want, Kim. I’m only going to tell you this once. If you ever set foot back in the state of Texas, I’ll make sure you rot in jail.”
Her brow lifted. “And how exactly would you do that?”
Placing my hands on the table, I leaned closer. “My parents are one of the richest families in Texas. My brother is a Texas Ranger. If you doubt for one moment that I couldn’t make your life a living hell, you’re crazy.”
Her throat bobbed as she swallowed hard.
“After you spend the evening here in this nice jail of ours, I expect your ass to be on the next plane out of the state. Don’t test me, Kim. I’ve put up with your shit for too long.”
Her eyes narrowed into two thin slits. “I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate you.”
I moved closer, causing her to lean back. “Back at ya, Kim.”
After I poured a mug of coffee, I ran my fingers through my hair and stared out the kitchen window. A heaviness filled my chest, and I tried like hell to push it away. My mind had been racing all afternoon and evening. It had taken everything out of me not to lose my shit on Kim.
I couldn’t believe she had the fucking nerve to go to Chloe’s school. Did she really think they would just hand her over? Of course she did. She never once dropped off Chloe or picked her up from day care. Kim had no idea how any of it worked because she left it all up to me. The one time she took Chloe to a playdate she forgot to pick her up, and they had to call me to come get her.
I was glad Mitchell had her arrested. I wish I could be a fly on the wall when she was sitting in that cell tonight. Chuckling, I shook my head and rubbed the back of my neck. What an idiot.
“Hey, how’s Paxton?” Amelia asked while walking into my kitchen.
“I didn’t even hear you come in.”
She grinned. “Yeah, I kind of snuck in. I wasn’t sure if you would be sleeping or not.”
The tension in my neck increased, and I found myself rubbing it again.
“Paxton’s doing good. The doctor stopped by and assured us that everything was fine with the baby, but it was best if Paxton took the next few days to rest.”
“That’s good the baby is okay,” she replied.
“Yeah. It’s really good. Luckily, she’ll only miss half a day of school with it being Christmas break and all.”
Her arms wrapped around her body. “That’s true.”
Making her way over to me, she smiled and grabbed a mug. She poured herself a cup of coffee and asked, “Do you want to sit on the back porch?”
I shrugged. “Sure. Why not.”
After we made our way to the porch, we sat in silence for a few minutes. The sounds of nature always calmed me. Why didn’t I sit out here more often? I made a mental note to sit out here each evening with Paxton.
“Paxton move in yet?”
“She’s going to during the break, but she’s pretty much staying here all the time.”
“What does Chloe think about it?”
I smiled. “Paxton and I talked to her about it. Chloe doesn’t seem to be bothered by it at all.”
“Things will be easier when you’re married, I’m sure.”
Taking a sip of coffee, I nodded.
“Speaking of married, have y’all picked a date?”
“The sooner the better. Paxton’s worried about her job. Today her boss overheard her tell Kim she was pregnant. He told her they would talk after the break.”
Amelia’s brows lifted. “Really? For Christ’s sake, this isn’t the fifties. Lots of people have kids outside of marriage.”
“Not kindergarten teachers in small town Texas.”
“Then get married over the break. She’ll have the baby in July. Sure folks will gossip but who gives a flying shit what people think.”
“I don’t.”
“Good! Steed, when people started to find out I wrote romance books, tongues were wagging like crazy in this town. I thought Daddy was going to fly through the roof when the teller at the bank mentioned I wrote porn books. You just let them get it out of their system. They’ll gossip in their weekly bunko groups and Wednesday church meetings and then they move on to next week’s gossip. It’s a cycle.”
“You’re right.”
“Of course I am. But…besides stopping by to check on Paxton, I had an idea. Well, actually it was Waylynn’s idea. I just got off the phone with her.”
